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Statement: The Clean Power Plan Will Still Drive an Energy Transition in the US

News Article February 11, 2016

Statement from President Felipe Calderón, Former President of Mexico and Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate:

Despite some concern in the press regarding the US Supreme Court´s recent stay, the Clean Power Plan is still valid. It has only been temporarily paused in its implementation, until the US legal process is completed this fall.

Indeed, experts agree that the Clean Power Plan is on firm legal footing. The current US Supreme Court has previously not only upheld the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon pollution, but found the agency had the obligation to do so to protect Americans’ health.

While the legal review goes on, it will become clearer that the clean energy economy is here to stay and the Clean Power Plan is good for America. The US electricity sector has already begun shifting from a polluting fossil fuel past to a cleaner future. For the second year in a row, the US produced more new renewable energy capacity than fossil fuels. Last year, the US solar industry added workers at a rate nearly 12 times faster than the overall economy and there are currently more solar power workers than coal miners in the US.

The US business community understands that clean power will help their bottom line. For example, last year 365 major investors and companies, including General Mills, Nestle, Staples, and the VF Corporation came out in support the Clean Power Plan as a cost effective and innovative way to cut cost, drive investment and bring down greenhouse gas emissions.

The Clean Power Plan is a practical, flexible and common sense way to secure a clean energy future, and will enable the United States to honor its commitments in the Paris Agreement in a way that benefits Americans.